-cola, -colas; -cole; -colent; -colid; -coline; -colous

(Latin: to inhabit; to live in, to live on, to live among; to dwell; living among, dwelling in; occurring on, occurring in)

Suffixes that refer to the location or an area of growth. Used primarily in botanical and biological terminology to indicate a plant or an organism that is characterized by a habitat or place of existence as indicated by the combining root.

The suffix -cole is derived from Latin colere, "to inhabit, to dwell, to live".

If you want to see more details about a "Source" link under any of the entries in this unit, click on it and you will be taken to the Bibliography of Habitat and Dwelling Environments unit and there you can find the book by scrolling down until you see the TITLE of the book in GREEN.

Don't confuse this -cole, -cola , "inhabit, live in, dwelling in" unit with the following cole-, coleo- (sheath, scabbard, vagina); coll-, col- (neck); collo-, coll- (glue); colo-, col- (colon, large intestine); and colon-, coln- (farm, settlement) units.

agricole (verb), agricoles; agricoled; agricoling: soil
Dwelling or living in soils that are cultivated.
agricolous (adjective), more agricolous, most agricolous
Concerning organisms that live in fields: While on vacation in the country, Jill loved sitting on a bench beside the open fields and watching the agricolous bees and flies buzzing around, the birds flying here and there, and the cows grazing in peace.
agrocole (verb), agrocoles; agrocoled; agrocoling
Thriving in cultivated soils.
agrocolous (adjective), more agrocolous, most agrocolous
aigicole (verb), aigicoles; aigicoled; aigicoling
To inhabit beach areas or to live among pebbles: The number of vines and sea campions certainly aigicoled during the months while Jill and Jim were having their vacation at the seaside.
aigicolous (adjective), more aigicolous, most aigicolous
aiphyllocole (verb), aiphyllocoles; aiphyllocoled; aiphyllocoling: evergreens
Thriving in evergreen woodlands.
aiphyllocolous (adjective), more aiphyllocolous, most aiphyllocolous
algicole (verb), algicoles; algicoled; algicoling: algae
Living or existing on algae; such as, tiny organisms that live suspended on algae and are themselves a food source for other marine life.

Algae are nonflowering plants that grow in the water and have no stems, roots, or leaves; and they have become food for those creatures who live on them.

algicoline (adjective), more algicoline, most algicoline
algicolous (adjective), more algicolous, most algicolous
Descriptive of species thriving on algae (seaweed).
alsocole (verb), alsocoles; alsocoled; alsocoling: forest
Living in woody (forest) groves.

Some creatures that alsocole include the following:

  • Long-nosed Spiny Anteater is bigger than the short-nosed Ant Eater and it has fewer, shorter spines that are scattered in its hairs. Range: New Guinea
  • Short-nosed Spiny Anteater. Range: Australia, Tasmania, S.E. New Guinea
  • South American Mouse-opossum; Range: Belize to N.W. South America, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada
  • Virginia Opossum; Range: Central America, Nicaragua
    • —Source: Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia, pages 12-20.
alsocolous (adjective), more alsocolous; most alsocolous
amathicole (verb), amathicole; amathicoled; amathicoling: sand
Inhabting sandy plains.
amathicoline (adjective), more amathicoline, most amathicoline

For more details about plants and animals living together, go to this Habitats for the Living page.

The list of books or the resources that were used to compile the information for this unit are available at this Bibliography of Habitat and Dwelling Environments unit.

You may take a self-scoring quiz over some of the words in this section by clicking on this -cole, -colus quiz to check your word knowledge for this unit or even learn some of the words via this quiz.

Related life, live-word units: anima-; bio-; vita-; viva-.